By Jessica Shea Choksey

Stellantis has announced that it will invest €30 billion ($35.3 billion) over the next four years as part of a plan to develop electrified versions of its cars and trucks across all of its global auto brands. (Stellantis)

Last week, Stellantis outlined its integrated electrification strategy spanning its more than a dozen brands, including the announcement of new electric vehicles (EVs) from Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram. The automaker, spawned by the merger between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and the PSA Group, will undergo an electric mobility shift much like the rest of the auto industry, from Audi to Volvo.

According to the company, Stellantis will invest more than €30 billion ($35.3 billion) through 2025 in electrification R&D and software technology to execute its plans. The company aims to have 70 percent of its European sales and 40 percent of its U.S. sales be low-emission vehicles (LEV) by 2030. Although the 40-percent figure is not as aggressive as other U.S. automakers have promised, some may say Stellantis’ goals are more realistic and therefore more feasible.

The cornerstone of Stellantis’ electrification plans is battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) with a range of 300-500 miles. This new generation of BEVs will utilize four flexible EV platforms and three scalable electric drive modules (EDMs) that can accommodate front-wheel-drive, rear-wheel-drive, and all-wheel-drive configurations. The four platforms are:

• STLA Small (range up to 300 miles)

• STLA Medium (range up to 440 miles)

• STLA Large (range up to 500 miles)

• STLA Frame (range up to 500 miles)

According to Stellantis, each platform can support the production of up to 2 million units per year and will benefit from ongoing over-the-air (OTA) software updates. The company also said that EV versions of the Ram 1500, a Dodge muscle car, a Chrysler crossover, and multiple Jeep models are on the way. Additionally, the company confirmed that the redesigned 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) would debut at the New York Auto Show next month.

“Several of the products in the Dodge, Ram, Jeep, and Chrysler lineups sit atop old platforms that aren’t set up for serious electrification,” Robby DeGraff, industry analyst at AutoPacific, told Autoweek. “By ditching those and focusing on just four capable iterations of the STLA platform, that gives these brands much more flexibility in terms of guaranteeing electrification (whether mild hybrid, PHEV, or full-on EV) in every segment possible.”

Stellantis’ commitment to its electrification plans is evident with each of its 14 individual brands intending to offer its own unique EV product solutions. Each brand has also developed its own tagline expressing its approach to e-mobility. Here are the ones that will appear in the United States:

• Alfa Romeo – “From 2024, Alfa Romeo Becomes Alfa e-Romeo”

• Chrysler – “Clean Technology for a New Generation of Families”

• Dodge – “Tear Up the Streets… Not the Planet”

• Fiat – “It’s Only Green When It’s Green for All”

• Jeep – “Zero Emission Freedom”

• Maserati – “The Best in Performance Luxury, Electrified”

• Ram – “Built to Serve a Sustainable Planet”

Stellantis’ ambitious sourcing strategy will be supported by five “gigafactories” in Europe and North America on the battery front. The company’s BEV plans also include developing two different battery chemistries by 2024 and introducing a solid-state battery technology in 2026.